What an incredible summer! Is anyone back to school sewing yet? I started with a basic tee; the Seena Dolman Tee pattern again.

Our back to school routine means shopping for jeans and tees and getting an eye exam. Last year I spent over $500 in glasses…several pairs. Bella has gotten better about taking care of them (since I had a fit), but she’s 10 and things do happen.

I consider myself a frugal person, but I used to buy her the designer glasses. My theory was that they were made better and would last longer; saving me money. But the truth is, expensive glasses get lost and stepped on just as easily as the rest. So this year I skipped the name brands and went to Firmoo.com, where most glasses average between $20-$40.

Cool dragon, right?

Firmoo sent me this pair to show y’all, and I was happy to since I own a pair myself. They tend to be lighter weight plastic frames, which Bella prefers over the metal frames with nose pieces. You enter the prescription and pupillary distance and they make them. Simple. Plus there’s a nifty “try-on” tool so you can see the frames on your face.

Glasses: check. T-shirts…we are in dire need. Looks like I need to bump Bella’s Seena Dolman Tee pattern size up to a small from the women’s XS. Gaw they grow fast. I plan to sew several of these and a couple of Jalie Raglan Tees. Is it bad that most of Bellas shirts are the same 2 patterns? She wears them, so I’m sticking with it. I’m too poor to waste fabric on anything she won’t wear.

Did you notice it started to rain on us during the photoshoot? I’m always happy when I don’t have to water all the crops. I say crops to sound like a real farmer…but it’s actually a few large gardens:)

In other news, our 4th of July party was a bangin’ success. I’m sorry I didn’t get any pictures of my decorations. I wanted to show you so bad! It’s been a #struggle to get much blogging done at all. I promise to set up early next year and take pictures and be a good blogger. Scouts honor.

Anyhow, Bella’s back to school tee may not fit when school starts, but it sure is cute. I’ll be back as soon as I can with another make!

Have you seen the new Urban Garden Dress & Tank pattern from Sew Straight & Gather? There’s a blog tour going on right now, you should see all the beautiful outfits being made.

I made mine while Bella was at summer camp. She chose the fabric before she left. I didn’t have her here for fitting, and it ended up a size too big. She wears it a ton though, so I’m glad we’ll see it again next spring and summer! (This is the sunburn my baby came back from camp with. I swear I sent sunblock.)

This is THE dress pattern for my Bella. I think the racer back style and easy, pullover design won her over. I should be able to get another one sewn after the 4th of July holiday. I’m unbelievably happy to see this little tomboy wearing (and loving) a dress.

The floral skirt is in Art Gallery voile. It’s really light and flowy, and sews up as easily as quilting cotton. We love the high low effect of this pattern. The hem has a facing which gives it a nice clean edge. I’d love to tuck some sort of trim in there for a future version.

On the day these photos were taken, this dress had been peeled on and off about a dozen times in between swimming. I was pretty much attacking kids with Bananna Boat all day!

I am not doing this lovely pattern justice, really. Bella sort of yanked it over her head each time to swim, and it’s a pretty damp. I used nice jersey on top, and it has good retention once it dries a bit. I feel so guilty that my dress really needs a good press after being worn ragged all day, and that I’m showing you a size too large.

I had to get it on the blog though, and profess our undying love for the Urban Garden Dress. Terri designs amazing patterns; I find myself them over and over again. I’m sure this dress will be no exception:)

I made my niece a new dress using Simplicity 1474. I have zero mistakes to confess for this make, although I need to learn to sew a hook and eye. The zipper holds up fine though:)

I’m not sure how the back ruffle was supposed to attach over the zipper. I didn’t read the instructions, but I made it work. Not sure if I used the correct ruffle placement. It’s rumpled from laying around so long; but it looks great pressed. A few washes to soften it up and it will lay nicely without pressing. My generation doesn’t iron; we just don’t.

The fabric is Fluerology from Moda, this print is called Blueberry. I was hoarding it for Sofia because it’s so bright and I love the colors.

I had just enough left to make these little paperbag style shorts. I think they’ll be real cute with t-shirts. I always made shorts for my daughter’s dresses too. (It’s like my girls were raised by wolves and can’t sit like ladies.)

I love Sofia in this dress; she looks like a fat little cupcake. This post is pretty image heavy and I don’t have a lot to say about the pattern…other than it fits well and turned out cute. So I hope you don’t mind if I ramble on some about life in general!

We’ve been remodeling, fixing things that keep breaking, studying the livestock industry, and trying to rub two pennies together to get some cattle fencing up. We have baptized our godson, built a carport, bought a tractor, raised chickens, cleared land, and burned brush like a boss so far this year.

We’re planning a 4th of July party; after all we’ve survived accomplished I want it to be epic. I hope I have time to show you some of the decorations we’ve been making, but I’ve barely been able to post once a week. Fingers crossed!

Now I’m harvesting food. I’ve got 50 pounds of squash to can this week. I also planted peas, green beans, tomatoes, onions, garlic, beets, potatoes, corn, peppers, and carrots. Everybody laughs at our tiny cornfield. Luckily this town is farms after farm for miles…so we have met a few friends and neighbors who are helping to point us in the right direction. Next year we will buy a proper plow and plant a real cornfield. Animal feed will eat our paycheck if not.

My daughter starts cheerleading next week. I’m fundraising for that. (Let me know if you need a $30 candle. Anyone? Yeah, me neither.) Bella has been taking voice lessons all year and loving it. She’s really adjusted well to our move; and we’re enjoying summer. She seems to be content even though we can’t run around and see lots of exciting things like we were able in the city. There’s a snow cone stand in town and that’s a pretty big deal. Her goal is to try every flavor this summer:)

We will soon be the pet owners of a litter of pittbull/German Sheppard mutt puppies. We wanted some red nose Pitt babies but “German” was relentless. (I’m not sure of his real name but he’s the dog that lives 2 farms away.) His intentions were not honorable; as he has not been around since my poor little Brownie got knocked up. He hasn’t even offered to help with puppy chow. Despite the no good German Sheppard baby-daddy; we are excited about having new life on the farm.

I’m been meaning to show you forever: Bella’s rash guard and boy shorts. Patterns used are the Monaco Swim Trunks and Hang Ten Rash Guard from Peekaboo Patterns. (Affiliate links.) I made this suit about October of last year. We were going to an event with indoor swimming, and I thought it would be easier to sew a new swimsuit than to unpack summer clothes from the barn.

Caroline at Sew Can She showed off her swimsuits using the exact same patterns Saturday. As I was reading her post; I looked outside to see my little girl wearing hers. So I took some quick pics with my iPod, and here it is!

I modified the shorts length to a boy shorts cut. They are fully lined, giving this swimsuit a nice weight. For the top I added just a bit of negative ease in the torso and sleeves to keep it more snug to the body. It’s being worn as an actual swim top rather than to cover a swim top; and I didn’t want it to float up. I recommend this mod for girls if there won’t be a swim top under. The front is also fully lined, and I added 1″ to the length.

I didn’t have enough fabric to cut my pieces on fold, so there is a center seam in the front and back. The print disguises it some so I’m not beating myself up.

When Bella went to church camp, our pastors wife said she really loved it and wanted one for her 12 year old daughter. It made me feel so good that she said that. If I ever have time I’m going to make her daughter one just because she made my day.

I love, love, love these patterns and will continue using them for the younger kids. With Bella sizing out of Peekaboo swim patterns, we’ll be moving onto Jalie patterns for her soon. I already have a couple in stash and can’t wait to try them. Id like to make myself a swimsuit too, but I want a steel cage to put everything where I want it and keep it there. I’m pretty sure I will be impossible to satisfy…but you never know.

Fabric: FunkiFabrics Action Painting Black and nude lining. This is better than any swim fabric I’ve ever touched. Perfect recovery even when I stretched it as hard as I could. Nice weight and zero fading in chlorine. Survives wicked abuse.

Modifications: Fully lined shorts and top is front lined. Swim trunks have been shortened to boy shorts. Negative ease and length added to top.